


Painful Truth

by Alltimefictionreader



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-03-22 01:18:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13753206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alltimefictionreader/pseuds/Alltimefictionreader
Summary: It started out as a normal day. Fighting ghosts, skipping class: the usual. But a fight with his ghost-hunting parents takes an interesting turn that night, and Danny struggles to grasp the bizarre chain of events that follow. Things take a turn for the worse, and he finds himself in a situation in which there are slim chances of escape. Will he get the help of his friends before it's too late, or will he give in before they get the chance?





	1. The Wrong Side of the Glass

________________________________________  


"It is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of hope.  
We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song  
of that siren till she transforms us into beasts... For my part, whatever anguish  
of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it."  
-Patrick Henry  


________________________________________

  
  
        I sprinted to the bathroom and reached out for the counter as the rug by the sink started to slide out from under my feet. After I ensured that I wasn’t going to take a nosedive onto the tile, I splashed water onto my face to wake myself up. The frigid temperature succeeded in making me feel more awake, but it failed to make my appearance less disheveled. After one last weary glance at the mirror, I careened down the stairs and entered the kitchen. I was about to get some breakfast to satisfy my growling stomach, but one glance at the eerie green glow that illuminated the fridge stopped me. My dad must have been experimenting again. I turned away, realizing that I didn't want my food to glow green, grow teeth, and eat me. It was better to wait until lunch. It’s not like it’s that far off, I reasoned, as I shot one last glance at the clock.  
  
        Multiple options ran through my head regarding ways to get to school. I wasn’t sure if it was even possible for me to get more detentions than I already had, but I didn’t feel like taking a risk. Therefore, only one made any sense if I wanted to get there before I got into more trouble. After all, I inherently had a speedy form of transportation at my fingertips, or more accurately, in my DNA. I smiled slightly as I thought about the rush turning into my other half gives me, then I went ghost. Bright rings made their way around me, my messy black hair turned a glowing white, and my clothes changed into my trademark jumpsuit. I phased through the walls of Fentonworks and flew to school.  
  
        As I sped through the town, no ghosts made any appearances. If only they had been this shy last night. I wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place if I’d just gotten some sleep. By the time I got there, it was lunchtime, so that solved my issue of adding another tardy to the growing pile on Lancer’s desk. I walked into the cafeteria, keeping a lookout for black clothes and a red beret. I spotted Tuck and Sam in our usual corner, along the fringe of rambunctious students that took over the majority of the room.  
  
        "Where have you been?" Sam shouted, drawing a few startled glances from the surrounding tables.  
Despite her temper, I could hear the concern in her voice. "Fighting ghosts," I lied, not wanting to admit I had overslept. I really had been up fighting ghosts until the early hours of the morning, which was the reason I slept through my alarm in the first place. But I knew she wouldn't approve of any late-night ghost fights, so I decided to embellish the story a little. She looked at me suspiciously, but didn’t push the subject further. "So what did I miss?”  
  
        "Like, four tests," Tuck said," You have a lot to catch up on.”  
  
        Great, that was exactly what I needed, more work to add to my sleep-deprived nights.  
  
        "It could be worse, a least you are not being attacked by ghosts..." Tucker offered.  
  
        "TUCKER!" Sam and I yelled in unison.  
  
        Sam send him a glare. "Bad Luck Tuck, you just jinxed us!"  
  
        A brooding look appeared on his face before he responded, "Hey, don't call me that, you know I hate it!"  
  
        "Exactly," Sam added, with a smirk.  
  
        Everything was quiet for a moment, and I wanted to believe that for once, the universe could let one lousy sentence slide. I was wrong. Right on cue, Skulker burst through the wall, sending students screaming and rubble flying through the air.  
  
        "Ghost Child, I know you’re in here," Skulker crowed, trying to be intimidating," I have come to hang your pelt on my wall."  
  
        "Thanks Tuck, if my pelt ends up on his wall you're taking the blame," I warned, before I phased through the wall to lead Skulker to a more sparsely populated area. If I was going to get blamed for something, it was not going to be for demolishing sections of the school. Again.  
  
        When I got outside, Skulker wasn’t behind me. I looked around, confused as to why he wasn’t spewing death threats and flying after me like I was prey. So much for wanting to hunt me down. I looked around a few more times scouting the area, before he flew out of the hole he had created in the cafeteria wall. Before I could blink, he flew at me, gaining me and more speed. I moved sharply to the left, narrowly missing a tree in the process. When I turned around to face Skulker, he was speeding away with a sly smile on his face. Or as much of a smile as a robotic face can really pull off.  
  
        “Catch me if you can Ghost Child, you don’t want me causing trouble downtown do you.”  
  
        By the time the words registered, Skulker was almost off of school grounds. I took off after him as fast as I could. We weaved through building after building, with Skulker occasionally slowing down and looking around every minute or two. He seemed to be looking for something. It got to the point where I was wondering who was the hunter and who was the hunted in this scenario. And it was starting to look like I wasn’t the top of the food chain.  
  
        A few more minutes and many twists and turns later, Skulker stopped abruptly. I barely managed to stop myself from crashing into him. Skulker’s arms were crossed and his chin was held high. He was definitely the hunter. Before I could ruminate on that thought anymore, I heard a command shouted at me from the ground.  
  
        "Stop right there ghost, you're not getting away this time!"  
  
        Before I could even place the voice, I was slammed into the pavement by an unseen force and coated with green slime. When I looked up, Skulker had disappeared, leaving me to face some very familiar ghost hunters. My parents stood about ten feet away, watching me vigilantly. My dad was the once who had shouted at me a few moments before. We stared at each other for a moment as slime ran in rivulets down my ghost form, creating a puddle on the asphalt I was hovering over. I heard a slight whine, and saw a green bar grow across the side of the bulky gun my mom was wielding. That must have been what brought me down. And covering me with the oily goo that was seeping into my jumpsuit. I did not stick around to see if they would hit me again. I turned intangible and sunk into the ground. Once I had gotten far enough away, I rose above the pavement and flew back to school, trying and failing to shake off some of the slime that coated me from head to toe. Or head to tail, in this case.  
  
        Lunch had already ended by the time I arrived, and the only people left in the cafeteria were the frustrated custodians sent to clean up the damage left by Skulker. I transformed in the deserted hallway outside the cafeteria, and the lockers on either side of me reflected the pure white light of the rings as they traveled down my body. I looked down and saw that there was no evidence of the slick slime that had covered me moments before. The transformation took care of it.  
  
        I reluctantly shuffled through the halls until I reached the doorway to my classroom. Surely my absence would be noticed by now. Well, “noticed” is a strong word. The only ones that would give me a second glance would be Sam, Tucker, and my irritated teacher. I received a tardy slip, and was warned that if it happened again I would get a detention. How I had managed to avoid getting one was beyond me, especially since I had stopped counting tardies months ago. Maybe the teachers had finally given up, too.  
  
        The rest of the day went by lazily, which made the urge to fall asleep nearly impossible to resist. Every time I stole a glance at the clock, the minute hand did not seem to have changed positions. Finally, the last bell rang and I walked from school to the Nasty Burger with Sam and Tucker in tow. We attempted to study, but, as usual, we got sidetracked. We ended up making countless jokes about the quality of the burger Tucker had bought, despite Sam’s warnings. Once the sun had begun to sink low in the sky, I had to drag myself away from the greasy restaurant and actually attempt to study. I couldn’t afford to fail any of the tests I missed today; I was barely hanging on as it was.  
  
        On my walk home, darkness slowly engulfed my surroundings, and only retreated slightly once the streetlamps came on. As I turned onto my street, I could see light spilling out of one of my downstairs windows, illuminating a small square of pavement next to my front door. When I reached the square of light, I looked inside curiously, wondering who turned it on. Jazz always went straight to her room after school, and seldom left it until dinnertime. Since my parents had been practically living in the lab, Jazz probably went out for dinner with a study group. To my surprise, I spied my parents in the kitchen talking excitedly, having emerged from the basement at last. As soon as I opened the front door, my dad sprinted into the foyer, my mom at his heels.  
  
        "We made a scientific breakthrough!" Mom exclaimed.  
  
        I zoned out after that, used to them carrying on about ghosts and their “miraculous” inventions. Once they were too engrossed in their conversation to see me slip away, I headed to my room, exhausted from the unrelenting rise in ghost fighting that had been taking over my life lately. I sunk into my bed and let out a contented sigh as my heavy eyelids finally got the chance to close.  
  
DPDPDPDP  
  
        I woke up suddenly. Immediately, I sensed something was wrong. I opened my eyes, and came face to face with a gleaming metal wall. I pushed myself to my feet and turned around, taking in my surroundings. The room I was in seemed to extend about five feet in either direction, and was enclosed by transparent glass walls on two sides. I glanced back at the first wall I had seen, and I realized that the wall beside it was made of the same gray metal. I must be in the corner of a bigger room, one that extended beyond the glass walls. The metal walls seemed eerily familiar. Where else had I seen walls like these before? I couldn’t seem to form the connection. I turned around to search for more answers, but what greeted me made my stomach drop. As I peered past the glass, I was greeting with a clear view of the Spector Speeder, as well as numerous other devices just as recognizable. I had seen all the items hundreds of times before, but never from this angle. I was on the wrong side of the glass.  
  
        Before I could evaluate the situation further, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. To my utter dismay, the person that came into view was just as familiar as my surroundings. This was my parent’s lab, and the person who stared at me through the glass was none other than my mom.  
  
        "Hello Phantom, surprised?" She asked, sounding very pleased with herself.  
  
        I looked down and saw that I was, in fact, in my ghost form. I returned my gaze to my mother’s face, and a feeling of apprehension raced through me as I automatically shifted into a fighting stance.  
  
        "I’m going to do a few tests. Do you like your containment unit?" she taunted, enjoying every word.  
  
        "It is completely phase-proof, and none of your ghost powers can penetrate it. Now let us stop wasting time, and move on to the first test. Let's see how much heat you can withstand," she said, as she pulled a lever down that I could barely see from my vantage point inside the cell.  
  
        Vents opened up in the floor and I could feel heat escaping from them. It was bearable for a while, but the temperature was rising fast. In a matter of minutes, I was in agony. I looked through the glass and tried to see past the heat waves rising up from the floor. The glass had fogged up too much to see my mom’s expression, but considering the joy she would be feeling about my capture, I doubt I would have liked what I saw. Sweat dripped down my body, slick beneath the rubber of my jumpsuit, as sweltering heat surrounded me. Suddenly, I was on my knees, trying to breathe the hot, stifling air. My head felt dangerously light and my vision flickered in and out like a light about to burn out. Using a last burst of energy, I attempted to stand upright but only managed to fall against the glass and slide to the ground. I saw a blurry flash of blue through the slick, foggy glass before my vision faded to black, my burning body sinking into the depths of unconsciousness.


	2. It's Always the Red Button

  


________________________________________  


Waking up in the morning knowing you have to go to school is pure torture. –unknown  


________________________________________  


  
         My body jolted up with a start. I frantically looked around at my surroundings, disoriented by the change of scenery. The metal walls and artificial light had been replaced with my NASA poster and sunlight streaming through my bedroom window. The memory of condensation running down the glass walls as my body seemed to burn from the inside out ran through my mind, but the cold sweat that drenched my pajamas made it seem like just a nightmare. But it had felt so real. I shakily got up from my bed, and tried to process the events of last night. Had it just been a dream? My parched throat and shaky body seemed to suggest otherwise.  
  
         "Get up Danny, you'll be late for…wow, you look horrible.” Jazz had appeared in my doorway, and gave me a double-take as she took in my appearance.  
  
         "I just had a bad dream, that’s all," I replied, before Jazz could say anything else. I mentally face palmed as I realized this would just cause her to worry more.  
         "You know, if you want to talk about your dream we can. It could mean something…," Jazz continued, going on and on about my health. She has read way too many psychology books.  
  
         I finally managed to slip past Jazz and head to the kitchen. I filled a glass with water and shakily brought it to my lips as soon as it was filled to the brim. I savored the coolness as the liquid soothed my parched throat, and once the steady stream of water abated, I quickly refilled the glass. Despite my desire for more, I refrained from drinking another cup when I heard Jazz descending the stairs. After her suspicion about my nightmare, she would find it odd that I was drinking so much water. I’m sure she would give me a lecture about some psychological finding that she managed to uncover from the depths of the internet about the aftereffects of nightmares or something. Although, the fact that I had to hide my thirst seemed to point to the fact that something might really be wrong. I may not know if last night was real, but it sure felt like it. My throat still burned, and the house seemed to be unnaturally hot this morning.  
  
         “Danny, you need to hurry up, you’re going to make us late!” Jazz was peeking her head over the top of the refrigerator door. Her mission to prevent me from being late to school two days in a row seemed to have interrupted her futile search for edible food, as well as my thought process.  
  
         “Geez, no need to worry, I’m just going to take a quick shower and then I’ll be ready.” I sent an eye roll her way. “Just chill for a second.”  
  
         She gave me an annoyed glance before looking at the refrigerator dejectedly and slamming the door shut. “Just hurry up.”  
  
         I ran up the stairs and grabbed my usual outfit before I headed to the bathroom and started the shower. I turned the handle all the way to the left before rethinking that decision and angling it towards the blue side. The cool water felt amazing as it soothed my burning skin. This was not normal. I’ve had nightmares before, but this was something entirely different and possibly ghostly. Before I could think more about it, I heard Jazz yell something unintelligible through the door. That was my cue to hurry. I reluctantly shut the water off and toweled myself off as quickly as I could. When I ran down the stairs, I could see the Jazz had already started the car and was tapping her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. Well, we can’t all be morning people like her, especially when ghost fights seemed to follow me like the plague at all hours of the night.  
  
         Nothing exciting happened once I got to school, except for me having to make up a few missed tests from yesterday (not that taking tests is, in any way, exciting). At lunch I talked with Sam and Tuck, but I didn't let on that anything was worrying me. I wasn't even sure what happened, so I had my doubts about telling them before I could come up with a sensible explanation. If it happened again, they would be the first to know, but until then I didn’t want them to worry.  
  
         Besides Mr. Lancer being exceptionally happy that I was on time for class, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Despite my lack of tardiness, my lack of attention made some of Lancer’s happiness diminish, but the events of last night were all I could think about. The more I went over it in my head, the more I knew that it really happened. As the class ended, I came to a conclusion. The question wasn't _if_ it happened, it was _why_ it happened.  
  
         Sam and Tuck where waiting for me in the hall, but I gave them a weak excuse about catching up on schoolwork before I went straight home to search for answers. When I arrived at the house I dropped my backpack on the floor and made it as far as the lab door before some unseen force knocked me down. I placed my hand on the back of my head where it had collided with the hardwood floor. I looked up, squinting my eyes in pain, and saw a six-foot wall of orange rubber staring back at me.  
  
         "Sorry Danny, you can't come down right now, your mother is very busy with an invention. She even kicked me out! Well, see you Danny, I'm going to get some fudge."  
  
         That figures. My search for answers began with a possible concussion and a bruised tailbone. I peered through the doorway to the basement, but I couldn’t see anything from the top of the stairs. I couldn't just waltz down the stairs to see if there actually was a containment unit taking up one of the corners, especially with my Dad guarding the door. For all I know, my mom could be working on some horrible invention that she would use on me later. It didn’t look like I was going to get any answers today.  
  
         As I was picking myself up off the floor, the doorbell rang. Seeing as my dad was busy stuffing his face with fudge, and my mom didn’t appear to be coming up from the lab anytime soon, it looked like I was the only one willing to answer it. I opened the door and caught sight of silver hair and a black suit, and I tried to slam the door closed, but the newcomer must have sensed my annoyance and slammed his hand it before I could pull it back any further. The now fully open door gave me a full view of Vlad’s mischievous grin. I groaned internally, before steeling myself for the upcoming conversation.  
  
         "Daniel, how nice to see you!" Vlad said with fake cheerfulness. “There’s no need to rush this wonderful visit.”  
  
         "V-MAN!" my dad shouted as he came up behind me, fudge covering the outside of his mouth.  
  
         "Jack…" Vlad trailed off, his smile fading," I just came here to invite you over to my house for the four-day weekend Daniel and Jasmine have off school."  
  
         I had completely forgotten about that. I could barely keep track of what day of the week it was, much less worry about school days that I probably would have missed half of anyway. Today was only Wednesday, but that means I could catch up on sleep and maybe attempt to complete my pile of missing homework during the days off. This would normally be a happy occasion, but if I have to go to Vlad's mansion, I’d rather just suffer through school instead. What’s he doing following my school calendar so closely anyway? This definitely feels like the start of one of his evil schemes. But then again, everything he does seems evil.  
  
         "So, where is Maddie?" Vlad asked. Well, he got right to the point, I should have known that he was here for her.  
  
         "She's in the lab working on something and will need to stay here for a few days, so I guess it's just you, me, and the kids!" Dad said excitedly. He was as oblivious as ever.  
  
         Vlad looked less than thrilled to hear that, but he couldn’t take back the offer now, although that would have been preferable in my opinion. But my dad wouldn't have listened anyway. "Well, I'll be up in my room, while you talk about the trip," I said, attempting to get as far away from Vlad as I could. As I entered the room, I couldn’t help but look longingly at the soft, silky sheets and cozy comforter that covered my bed. I closed my blinds and pulled my curtains closed, trying to achieve maximum darkness. The afternoon sunlight still managed to seep through a few cracks, but my room could still be considered somewhat dark. Vlad’s a problem for a less sleep-deprived Danny. As soon as I hit my pillow, my eyelids closed and my restless night caught up to me. I was asleep within seconds.  
  
DPDPDPDP  
  
         I woke up as an uncomfortable orange glow permeated my eyelids. When I opened my eyes, bright lights caused my pupils to constrict painfully. I tried to move my arms, but I felt metal pressing against my wrists. My legs seemed to weigh my body down. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I looked down and saw that I was hanging from the wall of the containment unit, my wrists held by chains. I tried to phase through them, but nothing happened. After a few minutes of struggling, a hole opened up in one of the glass sides of the containment unit, and my mom walked through.  
  
         "Lucky for you, the device I designed to keep you here will only works for a limited time. I plan to fix that soon, but in the meantime, I want some answers.” Her face was expressionless.  
I watched as she slipped her hand behind her back. She looked as if she was taking something out of her back pocket. To my dismay, she produced what looked like a remote, with an extremely obvious red button in the middle.  
  
         “What a cliché,” I groaned.  
  
         “Interesting, you must still have memories from being a human. That will come in handy.”  
  
         Ugh, me and my big mouth. I would say it’s going to get me in trouble, but it’s too late for that.  
  
         "First question, why do you fight your own kind?" she asked.  
  
         "Oh, we’re starting already? I forgot to bring notecards.” That is so not what I meant to say. Or maybe it was. It depends on what the red button does.  
  
         “Cut the crap, Phantom. I don’t have time for your foolish games. The stakes are high this time.”  
  
         “The way I see it, this works in my favor. Didn’t you say you were on a time limit?” Her eyes flashed with anger, and I could see her finger hover over the button. Again, wrong thing to say. It wouldn’t hurt to answer one little, harmless question, would it? The look Mom gave me convinced me. “I do it to protect the people of this town.” I said it with as much conviction as I could muster. But she had heard this defense before, has seen it discussed on the local news. She looked down at the red button for a moment and put her finger on it, but didn't push it. She didn't like my answer, but she decided to go onto the next question, instead of dwelling on it.  
  
         "How long have you been a ghost?" she asked.  
  
         "A little longer than a year."  
  
         "How did you die?"  
  
         I didn't know if I wanted to tell her that or not. If I say electrocution, she might start connecting the dots back to my human half, when I turned on the ghost portal. Before I had a chance to decide what to say, her hand tensed around the remote and her finger had pushed the red button down. A few moments later, electricity was conducted through the chains that held me to the wall. I felt pain course through my body, starting at my hands and travelling through my body. My fingernails dug into my palm as I clenched my fists. In my mind, the night I turned on the portal replaced over and over again. This was the same pain, but to a lesser extent. It felt like hot knives digging into every part of me. I couldn't escape the pain. I started screaming at one point, and my mom apparently thought I had had enough. I let my head hang down after it stopped, my mind replaying the scene over and over again. My own mom electrocuted me. Right at that moment, the thought crossed my mind about revealing who I really was so she wouldn't torture me anymore. I quickly decided I wouldn't, who knows how she would react if I told her. She didn’t exactly seem sane right now.  
  
         She asked another question, but all I could hear was my head pounding and blood rushing through my ears. All I could do was think about getting out of here. I frantically looked around to find a way to escape, but everything seemed like it was going in slow motion. Mom headed towards the opening in the glass, and each footstep felt like an eternity. After a disorienting few minutes – or hours, it was hard to tell – I blacked out, exhausted by the painful and sleepless night, or afternoon, or whatever the hell time it was.  
  
         I woke up to the same disorienting scene as the morning before. But this time I knew with a dreadful certainty that this was very real. And very wrong. My throat was sore from screaming, there was a metallic taste in my mouth, and there was dried blood on my hands where my fingernails had pierced my skin. It was all from the electrocution. I felt numb all over. On top of all that, I had to go to drag myself out of bed and attempt to survive school today.  
  
         When I got there, I arrived in a daze. As I was walking towards the entrance, I spotted Sam and Tucker. I started to head over to them to tell them what happened when I heard a voice behind me call out.  
  
         “Hello, Daniel."  
  
         I cringed. Daniel, that’s never a good sign. I turned around to see Vlad walking toward me with smug grin on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading on to the second chapter! There's is more to come next week. Reviews are welcome!


	3. To Go or not to Go

________________________________________

  


"Some old wounds never truly heal, and bleed again at the slightest word."

  


-George R.R. Martin

  


________________________________________

  


         As Vlad walked over, I glanced towards Sam and Tuck. If they had realized Vlad was at the school, they would have realized something was wrong. Sadly, today, or this whole week for that matter, definitely was not my lucky day. They were completely absorbed in an argument about Tucker's hat. Sam waved it over her head teasingly, while Tucker, lacking any athletic ability whatsoever, was failing at retrieving his precious headgear. Before I could yell to get their attention, an icy hand forcefully grabbed my shoulder. I looked up to find Vlad's eyes staring into mine, as cold and cruel as ever. His menacing smile filled me with dread. He looked too happy, which foreshadowed a horrible weekend on my part. With all that was going on, two visits in less than twenty-four hours and an exclusive weekend getaway with my archenemy was the last thing I needed.  
  
         "Daniel, how nice it is to see you!" he said, putting every ounce of fake cheerfulness he had into the sentence.  
         My fists clenched instinctively, and my stare grew cold. "I'm not in the mood for games."  
  
         "Well, we will have to get right to the point then." Vlad’s tone changed from cheerful to downright cruel. "You were just about to tell your friends what has been happening to you, weren't you Daniel."  
  
         "How did you know that?" As hard as I tried, I was unable to mask the surprise in my voice.  
  
         Vlad laughed ominously and continued," Who do you think funded Maddie with the money to buy the containment unit? Who do you think gave her the opportunity to capture the illustrious Danny Phantom?"  
  
         "Why would you do that?" I whispered, more to myself than Vlad. What could possibly be his motive for capturing one of his own kind? “What would you have to gain from that?"  
  
         "I would have everything to gain, Daniel. Maddie would forever be grateful that I helped her capture Phantom. I would get all the information about you, and then I could finally make a successful clone. It would give me everything I wanted and you could do nothing to stop it. Oh, and one more thing. You better not tell your friends anything or I will expose your secret on live television. I just love cold, hard evidence," he concluded with a smirk.  
  
         As he finished talking, a sleek, black limo pulled up to the curb and Vlad hopped in.  
  
         Just as the car was about to take off, I heard the whir of the window as Vlad’s face came into view. "I am _sure_ we are going to have a nice time this weekend,” he remarked through the small gap between the tinted window and the top of the limo.  
  
         He rolled up the window as the limo sped off, leaving skid marks in its wake. I stared at the marks, which were the only evidence Vlad had been there other than the smell of burnt rubber that hung in the air. He probably planned to take me to that containment unit in my parents' lab over the weekend. The solution is simple. I will do everything I can to avoid this impending excursion to Vlad’s mansion. He may come and look for me, but at least I wouldn't be trapped in that mansion of his, forced to do whatever he wants.  
  
         The muffled sound of the tardy bell sounded from inside the school. I looked towards the entrance to see that Sam and Tuck must have already gone to class and the heavy doors were shut. Great, I had just had one of the worst conversations of my life and I was late for class. This week definitely wasn't going as planned. I walked slowly up the steps leading to the school, my feet dragging as I faced yet another tardy. I opened one of the double doors and slammed it shut behind me. Vlad wasn’t playing around this time. I was in trouble. This isn’t one of his stupid mind games. This could evolve into a matter of life and death.  
  
         A feeling of hopelessness came over me as I stared at the deserted hallways. I was in no hurry to get to class, so I wandered around school aimlessly until the bell rang for second period. I knew I couldn't face Sam and Tuck the whole entire day without telling them something. I looked for someplace to hide from them, as well as any teachers who would force me to go to class. I found a dusty, old janitor's closet and walked in, closing the door behind me. It was dark and the air was thick with the smell of mold and mildew; no one had been here in a while. It was the perfect place to hide, as long as the box ghost didn't come and try to hit me with any of the discarded boxes scattered across the room. The tardy bell rang and after a few minutes the shuffling footsteps of stragglers grew faint. Only the sound of my breathing and the ticking of a long-forgotten clock somewhere in the room broke the silence. I felt myself drifting to sleep. The clock's hypnotic sound and the warm, humid air made me drowsy and the two nights of torture had left me exhausted. It only took a few minutes for me to fall asleep.  
  
         _I look around. I am in the lab. Wires cross the floor.The ghost portal isn't its usual swirly green. It is a metal hole in the wall. Wires snake over the edge of the metal, disappearing into the back of the portal. I can’t see it, but I know it’s there. The power button. Mocking me to come. I hear Sam's voice. "Come on Danny, I dare you to go in." I hear laughter. They don't know what is about to happen. I hear a zipper. I look down and see my hand zipping up a jumpsuit. White and black. I see Sam. She rips my dad's face off the suit. Thank god for that. I take a step towards the portal, unable to resist. I step over each wire carefully until I make it halfway into the portal. I am excited. No. I was excited. Not now. Not when I know the outcome. My concentration slips as I take a step forward. I should have been more careful. I reach for the wall, only to hit the on switch. With a flash, pain goes through my body. Unimaginable pain. Searing through my body. I screamed. And screamed. And then everything went black._  
  
         Someone was yelling my name. I could barely hear them. I opened my eyes and was blinded for a moment as light poured into my eyes from a door left ajar. Faintly, I heard the words, “Are you okay?” from somewhere above me. I opened my eyes again to see black shapes over me. Sam and Tucker. "Hey guys, what time is it?" I asked calmly.  
  
         "What happened Danny? We heard someone screaming bloody murder. We came as fast as we could.” Sam gave me a concerned look.  
  
         I picked myself up off the floor, wincing as my muscles tensed painfully. I was drenched in sweat. Like the night of the first experiment. I shuddered at the memory. "I'm … I’m fine. What time is it?"  
  
         "School just ended.” Tucker looked worried. Almost as much as Sam, which is hard to do.  
  
         I glanced towards the door nervously. I needed to get out of here and calm down. "Don't you guys have to go on vacation with your families for the four-day weekend?” They followed my gaze and gave each other a look. As if sensing my escape, they stepped towards the door, blocking me in the closet.  
  
         "Well… yeah, but are you okay? Why did you stay in here all day? Something is wrong. I know it.” Tucker gave Sam a stare. “We know it, Danny.”  
  
         "I'm fine. I will tell you everything Monday, okay. Let's just relax over the weekend.” I tried to keep the nervousness out of my voice. Yeah, that’s exactly what I am going to do this weekend, relax.  
  
         “Okay, we’ll go, but only if you promise to tell on Monday. No ifs, ands, or buts,” Tucker reasoned, drawing a stare from Sam.  
  
         She was obviously not happy with that agreement. While they were arguing about what they should do, I shoved past them into the hallway. I only got past a few classrooms before I ran into a certain red headed sibling of mine.  
  
         "Where have you been? We have to go to Vlad's now, he is picking us up.” Her introductory line was not a selling point for me.  
  
         "VLAD!" Sam and Tucker both exclaimed, as they ran up behind us. Tucker was gasping for breath, and Sam, somehow, looked even more worried than before.  
  
"Jazz, I'm not going." I started walking towards the other end of the hall, leaving a confusing trio in my wake.  
  
         "But… but Danny. Vlad will track you down! He has to have some reason for inviting us and it likely has something to do with you," Jazz said, begging me to come with her.  
  
         "And that's exactly why I'm not going!" I shouted as I went ghost and flew out of the school. I flew around town until after dark, watching out for Vlad the whole time. I flew to my house, turned human, and walked in the door. My mom was there, making dinner for herself.  
         My mom looked slightly worried. "Danny, I thought you went to Vlad's. Why are you here?"  
  
         "I wanted to spend the weekend with you," I said quickly, making up an excuse.  
  
         "You can do that, I do have a lot of things to do in the lab though… but if you are here anyway do you want to see what I'm working on?” As she finished the last sentence, her face lit up with excitement.  
  
         Before I had time to answer, she pulled me downstairs. I froze when I saw the containment unit. I shivered at the thought of what it had in store for me tonight. Mom quickly pushed me over to a desk next to the unit.  
  
         "You see this button?" she said, pointing to a blue, square button on the side of the unit above the desk.  
  
         I nodded, not trusting myself to speak at the moment.  
  
         "Every time I press it, I can teleport Phantom here," she said reaching for the button.  
  
         That was not what I was expecting. I thought it would be another torture device. How is that even possible? Has there been some sudden scientific advancement that I missed the memo on? This is like the start of some bad sci-fi movie. Time seemed to go in slow motion as she reached to push the button. I was frozen. I was in shock. My mind screamed for me to run out of the lab so my secret wouldn't be revealed, but my body wouldn't move. Two inches away from the button. One inch away. How would she react when she found out?  
  
         Just as she was about to press the button, a voice said," Maddie… Daniel?"  
  
         She stopped. We both turned around slowly. I found myself, for the second time that day, staring into Vlad's cold, glaring eyes.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry this is posted later in the day than normal. I've had a busy week, but I wanted to make sure I at least got the chapter posted on the day I promised, so here it is. Thanks for anyone who left feedback for the last chapter, I really appreciate it!


	4. Discussing my Own Confinement

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"The opposite of talking isn't listening. The opposite of talking is waiting." - Fran Lebowitz  
  
________________________________________

  


_Just as she was about to press the button, a voice said," Maddie… Daniel?"_

  
_She stopped. We both turned around slowly. I found myself for the second time that day, looking into Vlad's cold, glaring eyes._  
  
         "What are you doing here? I exclaimed, trying to keep the shock of these last few moments hidden.  
  
         "Oh Daniel, I just wanted to have a friendly visit with Maddie," Vlad said innocently," but as long as you are here, I guess we can sit down and discuss the advances Maddie has made in her research." He finished his comment with a menacing glance at Danny, so fast that my mom missed it.  
  
         "Yes, Danny, I can't wait to tell you about my research! And Vlad, thank you for the equipment and funding, it has helped a lot.” My mom’s smile widened and I saw a flicker of excitement in her eyes.  
  
         The smug smirk that had settled upon Vlad’s face sent a shiver down my spine. "Oh, it was my pleasure Maddie.”  
  
         My mom started bounding up the lab stairs, and then paused and turned towards me, as if she was so caught up in her anticipation that words were only an afterthought. "Why don't we go up to the kitchen and talk.”  
  
         I followed despondently, letting my feet drag on my way up the stairs. I sat at the table, dreading the upcoming conversation. It may help me figure out how much my mom knows about my other half, but I am positive that Vlad will try to make this discussion as painful as possible.  
  
         "Three days ago, I finished setting up a containment unit that Vlad's company gave me. It has tons of features and can bring Danny Phantom to me anytime I want! Although it has only been working in twelve-hour intervals because of a problem with the wiring, but I got that fixed this morning,” she mused, putting a hand to her chin.  
  
         "Wait, how can you transport Danny Phantom into the containment unit by just pushing a button?" I probed.  
  
         "Not just by pushing a button, Daniel,” Vlad explained haughtily, “The button activates a transporter that we planted on Danny Phantom.”  
  
         "What!" I cried, anger rising up within me. My Mom gave shot me a weird look at the outburst, so I tried to cover up my anger. "Umm, I mean… what… how did you plant the transporter?" I sputtered, trying to maintain my composure.  
  
         Maddie’s eyes lit up with excitement at the inquiry. "Well, Jack and I saw Phantom, so we shot him with a special weapon that shoots ectoplasm with a transporter mixed into its contents. It is designed to stick to the target for prolonged amounts of time, and to be almost undetectable. Now we don't even have to capture Phantom to run tests, he's here at a push of a button!" exclaimed Maddie.  
  
         Vlad sent another self-righteous glance my way. "Isn't that great, Daniel? And since it is a four-day weekend and Jack, Jazz, and yourself are staying at my house, Maddie is free to keep Phantom here without any interruptions. I am sure we will have a lot of fun this weekend, Daniel," Vlad concluded with a mischievous look on his face.  
  
         "Yeah… fun," I said weakly. By stomach started doing flips at the thought of staying with Vlad for a long weekend.  
  
         "So, what are the results of the tests you have run on Phantom?" Vlad asked Maddie.  
  
         "The first night I wanted to see how high of a temperature Phantom could withstand. He fainted of heat exhaustion after his body reached an internal temperature of 89 degrees Fahrenheit. His normal temperature is about 70 degrees Fahrenheit, which is exponentially higher than the temperature of any normal ghost. His temperature rose 19 degrees from his original temperature, which would normally kill a human, but he only fainted from heat exhaustion. I would say he can withstand only 10 or so more degrees of heat before any permanent damage is done," Maddie estimated.  
  
         "Interesting.” Vlad shot me an evil glance look before he continued. “You should probably test the coldest temperature Phantom can withstand tonight. Just to observe the other end of that spectrum.”  
  
         "That is a good idea, Vlad! Oh, one more thing, I questioned Phantom last night. I used electricity as a motivation for him to talk. He seemed willing to answer some questions, but he was reluctant to tell me how he died. Maybe he will tell me tonight during my second attempt," Maddie finished.  
  
         By this point in the conversation, my face had turned completely white, and my stomach felt like it was in my throat. "I am going to the bathroom," I muttered and quickly ran to the bathroom. I hurried over to the toilet and got sick, memories of last night flooding my head. I sat on the icy tile floor for a while trying to take deep breaths. I finally picked myself up off the floor, knowing that my mother would get worried if I stayed in here too long. When I entered the kitchen, Vlad and my Mom were immersed in conversation, so I interjected, and proclaimed that I was heading out for a while. Vlad looked suspicious, but my Mom barely glanced my way before she stated that I should be back before dark. Vlad probably thinks I will give his plan away, but I know that’s not an option at this point. Besides Sam, Tuck, and Jazz are all out of town, who did I have left to tell?  
  
         I flew around town for a while, before deciding to touch down at the park for a little while. I sat down on one of the benches by the walkway and laid across it. I looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful night. The air was a pleasant temperature, the stars were bright in the sky. This was one of the few places in Amity Park where you can see the them without the haze of light pollution getting in the way. I enjoyed my freedom. I let the cool breeze calm my jangled nerves.  
  
         The combination of the cool air blowing around me, and the events of the past two nights caught up with me, and I could feel myself drifting off into sleep. My eyelids felt like lead, and I struggled to keep my eyes focused. After a minute or two, sleep overtook me.  
  
DPDPDPDP  
  
         "What," I mumbled, as my ears picked up the sound of a muffled voice, waking me up from the deep sleep I had fallen into. I opened my eyes to find Mr. Lancer's face staring at me, illuminated in the light from the street lamp beside the bench.  
  
         "What are you doing here this late at night?" he asked. _ _ ____

"I'm just… enjoying the fresh air while I can," I said, still in the process of waking up. I glanced down and was relieved to see I was in my human form. Thank God for that.  
  
         "While you can? Are you alright, Danny? You look horrible, do you need a ride home?" he asked, sounding worried.  
  
         "Um…" I said, thinking about what to do. I sighed internally, having no idea how to act. What does one do before they are about to be held captive in their own home? I rested my head against the bench. I couldn’t think of an answer so I let myself lay back and look into the sky. The stars were bright tonight. This was one of the few places in Amity Park where you can see the them without the haze of light pollution getting in the way. Wait… starry sky… I was supposed to be home before dark! "Mr. Lancer! What time is it?"  
  
         "It's eleven. Are you sure that you are alright?" he asked.  
  
         "I was supposed to be home before dark…" I trailed off. Did I really want to go home? I would just be teleported to the lab anyway. If I stayed here, I could talk to Mr. Lancer. I could trust him, right? What if I don't tell anyone? What if it will be too late for me to tell anyone tomorrow? "Mr. Lancer, I…" I started, not completely sure of what I was going to say. In that moment I decided that I wouldn't tell him. Vlad would probably find out, and with him threatening to tell my secret to the world. Also, since he seems to be in charge of the equipment that was used to experiment on me, it probably wouldn't be the best idea to piss him off more. "I going home now, see you at school," I said and I made myself get up and walk away from the bench. It took all my willpower to leave the peacefulness of the park for whatever awaited me at home.  
  
         It was a struggle to stay on the path towards home. I guess it wouldn’t have mattered much anyway because mom has that transporter thing. Whether I wanted to or not, I would still end up in the lab. But if she didn’t see me in human form. She would be so worried about where I, Danny Fenton ran off to after I saw her last. No matter what she did, I couldn’t worry her like that. I hope I still feel that way after this weekend.  
  
         I walked down the street, sticking to the shadows. The cool night air was refreshing, and the darkness felt comforting, like a cool blanket protecting me from the events yet to come. After a while, I found myself at my front door. The light was on, so my mom must be waiting for me inside, hopefully without Vlad. I opened the door slowly and took a step inside. I closed it slowly, and was about to walk into the kitchen when my mom practically ran into me outside the doorway.  
  
         "I was so worried about you! Where were you?" she asked. She sounded more concerned than mad.

"Sorry, I fell asleep in the park," I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck with my hand, “Is Vlad still here?”  
  
         "No, he said it was getting late so he should go. Since he left you are going to stay here for the weekend, but I have to warn you, I will be in the lab most of the time," she said.

"Okay, I am going to go to bed now, good night," I said, finishing the conversation.  


I had just turned around and started heading upstairs when she replied, "Me too, I think I will wait for tomorrow to bring Phantom into the lab."  
         I stopped for a moment, not knowing whether to feel relieved that I could sleep the whole night, or if I should be worried about tomorrow. I decided I should just go to sleep, so I headed towards my room. When I got there, I headed straight for the bed. I sat on the edge of it for a while, overwhelmed by everything that happened recently. The heat experiment. The electrocution. Vlad coming over. I have a feeling the weekend won't be any better. But I decided that worrying wouldn't help at this point, so I laid down in bed, trying to clear my mind. I eventually fell asleep, hoping that I would wake up refreshed for the first time in two days.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thank you to everyone who commented and/or gave this story kudos, I really appreciate it!


	5. Leave Me Alone

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"I never said, 'I want to be alone.' I only said, 'I want to be left alone.' There is all the difference."

-Greta Garbo "

________________________________________

         I opened my eyes to see sunlight shining through my window, bathing my room in a golden hue. I looked at the red numbers on my clock, 11:00 glowing on its black screen. I sat up and got out of bed, the wooden floor was cold against my bare feet. I changed into one of my signature white t-shirts with a red circle and my blue jeans, then I headed downstairs. When I got to the kitchen, I saw my mom eating lunch.  
  
         "Hey Danny, did you sleep well?" she asked.  
  
         "Yeah, I did actually," I answered, surprised. I was feeling really refreshed by the long night of sleep I had gotten. I had expected my sleep to be interrupted like it was the past couple of nights. Maybe that’s a good sign.  
  
         "That's great, Danny, you were looking very tired last night. I am going down to the lab and I don't know when I will be back up, so feel free to hang out and enjoy the long weekend. You can order pizza for dinner if I am not up by then," she said, as she got up and cleaned off her dishes.  
  
         Or maybe I had just caught a lucky break with one last good night of sleep before everything went to hell. "Okay mom," I replied with a forced smile. I figured I would be in the lab before I had a chance to order any pizza.  
  
         She went downstairs, her footsteps fading as she went. This would probably be the last few minutes of freedom I had for a while, so I decided to go to the park again. The walk there was quiet, most people were either out of town for the weekend or spending time inside with their families. I wonder if Sam and Tuck are having a good start to their break.  
  
         When I got to the park, I instinctively went to the same bench as yesterday. I sat down, closed my eyes, and listened as the squirrels rustled the branches, the bees buzzed lazily around, and the birds sang in the trees. I looked up and opened my eyes after taking in all the sounds of nature, of freedom, around me. The sun warmed my face and the clear, blue sky looked down at me. It was so peaceful. No clouds in sight. I could stare at it forever.  
  
         That was the last image I saw before it was replaced by the cold, gray ceiling of the lab. Even as I stared at the it, the image of the clear sky still burned in my mind. I was lying on the hard floor of the containment unit, my hands bound in what looked like handcuffs but in place of a metal chain, a rope of a glowing ectoplasm-like substance was connecting the cuffs together. It looked like something Vlad would invent for one of his nefarious schemes.  
  
         "Phantom," a familiar voice said.  
  
         "Mo-Maddie," I said, trying to correct my mistake.  
  
         "I have another test I am going to run. I doubt it will be as uncomfortable as the heat experiment, but you never know," she said, with a certain smugness that definitely hinted that she was going to make my experience here as terrible as she could.  
  
         She pushed a circular blue button and it started getting cold in the unit. It actually felt good for a while. It kind of felt like a cool breeze on a hot summer day. The more the temperature dropped the more invigorated I felt. I practically was buzzing with energy. After about maybe ten minutes of the temperature steadily dropping and strengthening me, I felt something change. I started to feel cold. I could feel goosebumps rising on my skin under my hazmat suit. Soon after that I started shivering. My fingers and toes started to feel numb. The temperature continued to drop, to the point it was almost unbearable. I tried to stand up, but I fell backwards, and my head hit the floor. It was so hard to move, and I was beginning to feel tired. Really tired. Didn't I hear once that if you are extremely cold you shouldn't sleep? But I was beginning to feel warm, almost… comfortable. It probably wouldn't hurt to close my eyes. I will just shut them. That's all I have to do, and this will go away right? Maybe I will be warm if I do that. It was getting so hard to think now. I didn't even have a chance to decide before darkness surrounded me.  
  
         Darkness. That is all I can see. And I can hear a distant voice talking. My mom. I feel like I am losing consciousness. Maybe I have already passed out. Or am I waking up? I feel so out of it. I feel like I’m gone. It’s so dark. All I can do is focus on the voice. Try to wake up. It is getting clearer now. Try to wake up. I can barely make out the words.  
  
         **I intravenously gave him warm fluids.**  
  
         **Yes, I did all you said to. I warmed up the unit and gave him warm fluids.**  
  
         **It is done. He should wake up soon.**  
  
         **It was amazing though. I have never seen anything like it. He withstood the temperature drop until it almost couldn't get any lower.**  
  
         **The temperature dropped hundreds of degrees before he even experienced symptoms of hypothermia.**  
  
         **I have got to check on Phantom again, Vlad. I will call you again later. Bye.**  
  
         Silence. And then…  
  
         **Phantom. Hey, Phantom. I know you are awake now.**  
  
         I could feel her presence next to me, so I opened my eyes. I looked around and saw I was on a gurney, like the ones at a hospital. Tucker would hate it. I got up off the gurney and tried to take a few steps. I was stiff from being unconscious for who knows how long, and I felt slightly weak, but it was a hell of a lot warmer now so I didn’t mind it too much.  
  
         Maddie left the containment unit as soon as I started moving, and she dragged the gurney with her. Of course, she couldn’t let me be _too comfortable_ could she, what, with me being phantom and all. And she left in quite a hurry. Maybe she was scared of getting attacked by me. But I don't think I could ever attack her. My own mom. If only she knew. But I knew I was too afraid to tell her. I was too afraid of how she would react.  
  
         A moment later, she turned off the lights, so I sat down in the corner of the unit. I wished my mom hadn't taken the gurney away. It was going to be a long night. I sat in the dark for a few hours. It was very boring, which I thought was funny, because how could I be bored in a situation like this. I should be looking for a way out. But I still feel really weak. And, knowing how good Vlad and my Mom were at inventing ghost technology, I was not liking my chances of escape. Not to mention how good they could be when working together. After falling into a dark spiral of thoughts like these, I finally feel asleep.  
  
DPDPDPDP  
  
         The lights came on immediately, waking me up.  
  
         "Get up, Phantom.” My mom sounded tired. It must be early in the morning. "I am going to question you some more, and you WILL answer. I have days to do this, so you will have to give in eventually anyway.  
  
         Just as she finished talking, I felt the handcuffs around my wrists pull my arms upward, and I felt something similar to a magnetic force drag me backwards towards the wall. They somehow connected to it, so now I was facing the glass part of the enclosure with my wrists stuck to the wall, similar to the last questioning session I endured. I really hate Vlad and his money, and his inventions, and his love for my mom. She came in yet again with the remote with the red button. Why does it always have to be electrocution! I already have enough problems with electrocution as it is, I did not need more.  
  
         "Now, I want the true answer this time. How did you die," she said calmly.  
  
         I needed to think of something quickly. What could I say…? "I died in a car crash," The answer came out rushed, but I tried to keep my voice as steady and confident as I could. I did not want to get shocked.  
  
         "Nice try, but you can't fool me that easily. Thanks to a friend and his numerous resources, I had a lie detector built into this remote. If you are lying, a spike in the wavelength on the screen of this remote will tell me everything I need to know. You can’t see it from your current position, but sadly for you, I can see a huge, red spike right in the middle of the screen You lied." She pushed the red button.  
  
         Electricity coursed through me for the second time this week, making my back arch in pain. My fingernails dug into my palms, reopening the wounds from last time. Ectoplasm seeped through my fingers as my fingernails dug deeper. The electricity stopped, leaving me hanging there, gasping for breath.  
         "I will continue to do this until you tell me," my mom said emotionlessly, as if she hadn't just electrocuted someone.  
  
         Never," I choked out, not able to say more than that as my chest rose and fell with labored breathes. I was pissed now. How could she be so nonchalant, even if she thought I was a ghost? "  
  
         "Then I will have to keep on going," she said. Her voice sounded as serene as ever.  
  
         Pain flooded my body once again. It was like a million hot knives piercing every part of my body. "LEAVE… ME… ALONE!" I screamed as loud as I could. The electricity immediately stopped.  
  
         “You want me to leave you alone, huh Phantom.” She smiled and chuckled a little bit. I had never heard her laugh like that before. Like this was some game she was playing, and she was enjoying it. “Fine. Sure. But you should think about how much more of this you can take, because it is only going to hurt you. I will be fine pushing that button every, single time. I will just give you a little time to think. I suggest you use it wisely." She said as she left the unit and turned off the lights.  
I heard a clicking sound come from behind me, and my handcuffs disconnected from the wall. I fell to the floor with a thud, and pain rose up all throughout my body as the floor connected with my tender nerves.  
  
         All that was left was me, a bloody, sweat-soaked, heap on the cold metal floor.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for sticking with this story! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And thank you to everyone who reviewed, gave me kudos, and showed interest in this story! It motivates me to keep on writing!


	6. Darkness Takes Over

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Nothing makes us so lonely as our secrets.  
-Paul Tournier  
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        I opened my eyes to darkness. Complete darkness. It took me a while to remember why there was no sunlight shining through my bedroom window, or at least moonlight making shadows dance across my room. And then I slowly started to remember. I remembered the pain of these past few days. I remembered how I got to this moment, waiting in the dark for someone to come.

        Hours passed, and my thoughts wandered. I wondered when my mom would come back. After all she had done, did I want her to come back right now? I kept remembering the look of pleasure on her face as she electrocuted me. And how fascinated she was when she saw the temperatures I could withstand. To her I was a lowly creature she could do anything to and not feel guilty. I was her lab rat.

        The more I thought about her and the experiments, the angrier I got. I wanted to punch something or knock something over. But there was nothing around me. I wanted to scream. But I had completely lost my voice from screaming so much over the past few days. How long had it been now? It was Saturday when I was transported here. I had blacked out after the temperature experiment. It had been morning when I awoke. Sunday. A few hours after that I had blacked out again, to end up here. It was impossible to figure out how long I had been in the dark. All I knew for sure was that it is at least my third day here.

        Sometime after I came to that conclusion, I fell asleep. When I woke up, nothing had changed. Well, none of my surroundings had changed. The condition I was in, sadly, had. My mouth was dry. My stomach ached from lack of food. I hadn't thought about eating or drinking in my ghost form. I had never been in it long enough to find out. Of course, maybe it should have occurred to me that my body still acted like a normal human being since I sweated when I was electrocuted and had slept, too. Maybe since I am only half human I can go longer without food and water. If I were completely human I could have died of dehydration by now.

        My growling stomach brought me back to reality. I was suddenly aware of a puddle of sticky liquid around me. My blood, sweat, and probably some other stuff I didn’t want to think about at the moment, considering the discovery I just made. I got up slowly. My legs were weak from electrocution and a lack of food. I put my hand on the cold metal wall I knew was close by, since I had mostly stayed in the corner of my containment unit.

        Wow, I’m actually calling it a containment unit, just like my mom. This was no longer a temporary arrangement. This was my cell. I stood there for a while, finally realizing the seriousness of the situation. I would no longer wake up and find myself in bed, pretending this was just a dream. This is something I can't wake up from. I’m stuck here. My own parents don't really know that I’m here. My friends don't even know. Vlad is the only one who truly knows.

        At that realization, I collapsed onto the ground, a few feet away from my original position. No one was coming here to save me. I curled up into a ball, and just sat there, tears falling down my face. I almost gave up. Almost. But, it occurred to me that Maddie couldn't keep me down here forever. In a day or two, she would want some answers, and she would have to come down here to get them. After I reassured myself, I sat there for hours, waiting for her to come back. I drifted in and out of sleep. More hours passed, or days for all I knew. After a while, I knew I was very dehydrated. I was hungry. No, it was more than that. I was starving. But I knew that you needed water more than you needed food.

        The dark was getting to me too. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am not scared of the dark. But being completely alone in the dark for days really gets to you. It messes with your mind. I started wondering if Maddie was really going to come back for me before it was too late. As far as she knows, I don't need food or water.

        I wanted the lights on so badly. I wanted to talk to someone. Anyone… even Vlad. The cold, metal walls seemed to be closing in on me. The darkness seemed to suffocate me. I got weaker and weaker. I thought I was still sort of conscious, but as far as I knew, reality and my dreams were the same. When I closed my eyes, it was no different than when they were open. I was still starving and dehydrated. I still felt like the walls were closing in on me. I knew I wouldn't last much longer. And just as I thought I was drifting asleep for the last time, the lights turned on. Maddie ran towards the cell, and the last thing I saw was her opening the door.

DPDPDPDP

        I heard a voice… Maddie.

         **He was almost dead, Vlad! He is a ghost, he can't die!**

         **I didn't do anything that bad anyway. I just left him there for a while.**

        **I don’t know, it was probably four or five days, why?**

        **I didn't know he needed water! How many times do I have to say this, he is not alive!**

         **Fine, whatever you say. I will just have to run more experiments and figure out what is really going on. Bye.**

        I heard her walk across the lab, her footsteps echoing throughout the room. I hadn't opened my eyes yet, so I was surrounded by darkness. Darkness that had seemed so suffocating before now seemed to envelope me in a comforting haze. I opened my eyes, only to close them against a harsh light shining into my eyes. The light shined red through my eyelids, and I longed for the darkness that had enveloped me just moments before. But then I remembered the horrible, never ending darkness that had surrounded in before I lost consciousness. That thought was all it took for me to open my eyes. Instead of closing them again, I squinted, slowly getting used to the light. It gave me a headache, but anything seemed better than being in the dark again. Through the spots in my vision from the light, Maddie stared at me. She looked determined. I could feel a question and answer session coming on.

        "You're awake. You better have answers." She looked mad.

        Well, I’d at least thought she would wait a minute or two. I just woke up from almost dying and she wanted to interrogate me. What, so she ignored me for a few days and now I was interesting all of a sudden? Wait, how long has it been?

        "How long was I unconscious?" My voice was rough from disuse. I must have been asleep a while.

        "Seven days," Maddie said, like she couldn't care less. But then again, she probably didn't care. As long as I was still alive to experiment on, everything was okay to her.

        "Seven days!" I exclaimed, "How is that even possible?"

        "That is exactly what I want to know. You shouldn't even have been unconscious. You shouldn't need water, but you do. As far as I can tell, you should be telling me why, not asking questions," she retorted.

        I suddenly noticed the IV in my arm, giving me fluids. No wonder I was feeling better. But something was missing. Food. Now I haven't had food for, if I estimated correctly, ten days. I suddenly realized how skinny I was. My hazmat suit hung limply off me, and when I ran my hand across my side, I could feel my ribs. I became conscious of a dull ache in my stomach. I seemed to grow and grow until that was all I thought about.

        "Why didn't you feed me?" I practically yelled, hunger fueling my emotions.

        She looked at me in surprise and said, "Food, too? That doesn't make any sense." She said that uncertainly as her eyes scanned my body, probably realizing the gaunt look of my face, and how my hazmat suit hung off my skeletal frame. "Fine, I will get you some food," she muttered in a resigned way.

        When she left, I looked around. The harsh light I had seen earlier was really just the normal light of the lab. I was in the dark so long, that the light had seemed blinding. She had left the door of the cell open, and I wanted so badly to escape. I tried to get up, but I was too weak. I felt stiff from sitting in the corner of the lab for at least a week, and my legs felt like jelly from a lack of energy. I had been experimented on numerous times. I couldn't escape. Not even when I had the chance. It was up to Sam, Tucker, or Jazz to save me… from my mom. This seemed so unreal, but I knew this was only the beginning. The more I thought about it, the more this didn't make sense. This should be the end. Someone should have noticed I was missing. I hadn't gone to school for days. Jazz would have known to look for me as soon as she came home. She would have at least looked in the lab, right?

        The smell of pizza wafted down into the lab, and I was immediately jolted out of my thoughts as the thought of eating consumed me. Maddie appeared at the bottom of the stairs, a slice of pizza in one hand and a cup of pudding in the other. Sadly, she handed me the pudding, but I knew that if I ate solid food I wouldn't be able to keep it down. Despite the urge to swallow all the pudding at once, I forced myself to eat slowly and savor every creamy bite. I felt nauseous from eating for the first time in a while, but I barely noticed. Maddie had to give me nutrients through an IV after that. It was really surprised she did that. But I probably would have died of starvation if not, so she probably didn’t have a choice if she wanted to keep experimenting on me. She left after that, and so I just sat there. I still felt horrible, but I felt a little better with water and food in me. Nothing much happened. I just lay there for a while, not really thinking, just peacefully laying there. But it was all too good to be true. Because as soon as I looked up, I saw the last person on Earth I would want see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	7. Barely Alive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long wait! I was out of town for a conference and couldn't post, and then my professors decided to give me a bunch of work since school is almost out for the year. I also realized that since I technically started writing this a long time before I posted it, I wrote this is first person for some reason. So I changed this chapter to third person. Please tell me what you think of the point of view change, because if it is received positively I will change the rest of the chapters to third person as well. I will still be posting weekly whether I go back and change the point of view or not, so no worries!

________________________________________  
"He explained to me with great insistence that every question possessed a power that did not lie in the answer."  
― Elie Wiesel, Night  
________________________________________

        

Vlad.  
  
        "What are you doing here?" Danny demanded.  
  
        "Just thought I would stop by for a visit." Vlad said mischievously.  
  
        "Well then, it must be my lucky day." He spat, already frustrated by Vlad's presence.  
  
        "My, my, someone woke up on the wrong side of the containment unit today. Anyway, I came here to enlighten you about your friends."  
  
        "What are you talking about?" he demanded," What did you do to them!"  
  
        "Me, I didn't do anything, you on the other hand played a big part," Vlad stated with happiness. "Your friends and sister came looking for you. They looked everywhere, even the lab, but the lights were off. They assumed no one was down here. All because you asked Maddie to leave you alone. Irony at its best, right?"  
  
        "You could be lying for all I know," he said, in denial. They wouldn't give up; they would come here again, right?  
  
        "Think about it Daniel, you have been missing for thirteen days. Don't you think they should have found you by now?"  
  
        He has to be wrong. Thirteen days, that’s almost two weeks. That’s not too long, right? It’ll still be okay. Even that didn’t sound convincing in his own mind. "What did you do, you must have said something to them to get them to stop," his voice raised in anger.  
  
        "All I did was say you were staying with me for a while," Vlad reasoned provocatively.  
  
        "They would never have believed you," he stated, "they know I don't like you."  
  
        "You're right Daniel, but my intention wasn't to convince them, it was to shift their attention from Maddie to me," he said, seemingly amused by the hopelessness of the situation.  
  
        Suddenly, Vlad turned and flew out of the lab, just as he heard the sound of the rubber soles of his mother's shoes as she came down the stairs. When she appeared, she had an agitated look on her face.  
  
        "Stop making such a racket Phantom, I can hear you through the lab door." she said.  
  
        He looked toward his cell door, just realizing that she had left it open, knowing he was too weak to escape.  
  
        "Well now that I am down here, it's time for another question and answer session," she chuckled. The agitated look on her face melting into an earnest one.  
  
        She entered my cell, and he tried to get up and walk away from her, but it was all he could do to drag myself to the back of the cell. She walked into the containment unit. Her shadow loomed over him, and when combined with the grin on her face, gave her a menacing look. She grabbed his arm and pulled me up so he was standing. She held me up easily and pushed his hand against the same wall where he was electrocuted the first time. The same chains as before came out of a panel in the wall, and Maddie closed the manacles around his wrist. His body ached at the thought of the last time I was in this position. Memories of electrocution flashed through my mind as Maddie chained his other wrist. He shivered at the thought of electricity running through him, of his body writhing in pain. As these thoughts passed through his mind, Maddie went and got the remote with the red button.  
  
        "So Phantom, how did you die," she demanded.  
  
        He stayed silent, he mind far away from reality, living through the other experiments.  
  
        "I will ask one more time," she stated," and then I will press this button. How did you die?"  
  
        And she pressed it, but this time he barely felt it. I was aware for no more than a second before he blacked out. When he woke up, his muscles were stiff and hard to move, and he ached all over. He was covered with sweat and lying in a heap on the floor. Unlike the last time he passed out, the lights were on and Maddie was working outside his cell.  
  
        Now that he was awake and not being tortured, he could finally think about what Vlad told him earlier. Sam, Tuck, and Jazz were looking for him, not that he expected differently. Since they were now suspicious of Vlad, they will search his mansion and anywhere he could have a connection to. They would never think to look in the lab again, knowing that Maddie doesn't like Vlad around anymore. But they must be getting desperate by now. He has now been missing for about thirteen days, give or take a day. There’s no way to know how long he had been unconscious. They might search here again. And Maddie won't let me miss school for too much longer, no matter how much Vlad may insist he stay at his house. She has to figure out sometime that he's not there. But what happens then?  
  
        Before he got the chance to finish that thought, he could feel his eyes getting heavy with exhaustion. Despite that fact that he blacked out, he felt so weak and tired. For a few minutes, it was all he could do to just stay awake. But eventually, his eyelids felt too heavy to open again, and he huddled into the corner of the unit and curled up in a ball. He ached all over, and his head was pounding, but eventually he began to fall asleep. The last thing he heard was the creak of Maddie's chair as she stood up.  
  
        The next thing he knew, he was lying on a slab of cold metal, with his arms chained to it. He looked around and saw Maddie turned around facing a rolling cart. He was on a table in the middle of my cell. Bright light shined on him from above like a deer trapped in headlights. Maddie turned around, rolling the cart next to her as she approached the metal table. When he saw what was lying on the tray, his breath caught in his throat. Sharp, metal instruments reflected the harsh light that hurt his eyes. What was she going to do? Panicked thoughts poured through his mind, and he struggled to free himself from the table. After he tried to escape for a minute, some rational part of his mind told him to stop; it was useless and he was tiring myself out. He stopped struggling, but panicked thoughts still threatened to overwhelm him.  
  
        Maddie started to look him over making comments about how human-like he was. In his panic to escape, he had forgotten that she was there. She picked up a small knife, like one you would use in a surgery. He felt sick. She then proceeded to make a small incision in his hand. He was so shocked he couldn't feel it at first, but once he did, it started burning like hell. Compared to the electrocution it wasn't that bad. Until she started touching the incision and examining the inside of it. His back arched in pain and he screamed as she made it deeper, getting dangerously close to the tendons. Ectoplasm poured out when she widened the cut. His fast healing began to kick in. She cut him over and over as she watched the cut begin to close up every time.  
  
        "Interesting," she said a thoughtful look on her face.

  
        Before he even realized what was happening, she moved her hand to his leg. And stabbed him until the knife reached the bone. For the second time that day, he passed out from the burning pain.  
  
DPDPDPDP  
  
        Once he woke up, he saw that he was still on the metal table, the knife protruding from his leg. His whole body ached, and the sharp pain in his leg was a cruel reminder of what Maddie had done. The bright light that had been above him was turned off, no longer needed since Maddie was gone from the lab. All he wanted to do was fall asleep, to rest his aching muscles and to forget about the pain of the knife, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't sleep. With his arms and legs spread out by the chains holding him down, he couldn't get comfortable. He lay there, trying not to think about how the chains dug into his wrists and ankles, and he failed miserably.  
  
        After what seemed like hours, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and Maddie appeared with a water bottle in her hand. Remembering how thirsty he was, he looked longingly at the water bottle. He had almost forgotten she had to keep him alive. She walked over and set the water on the table, in sight, but he couldn't reach out to pick it up.  
  
        "Ready to talk yet Phantom?" she asked. "Don't want to be left here in the dark again," she chuckled.  
  
        Fear rose fast in his mind, but he knew he couldn't tell her how he died. Maybe he would just have to tell her something else.  
  
        "Phantom, I'm waiting," she continued impatiently.  
  
        What should he tell her? He tried to think fast, but his panic was making it difficult. She reached for the button. "Wait, um… I died of…," he cut off, his mind warring with itself. Was he really afraid of electrocution more than of his mom finding out? What did he have to lose anymore? How long could he stand this torture? His body was weak from starvation and dehydration. He had been electrocuted numerous times. He was left alone and almost died. He knew the answer. "I died of electrocution." It came out as a whisper. "But why is that so important to you?" It was silent for a minute while she thought.  
  
        "I wanted to know why you were turned into a ghost. It could give me a vital clue to why you are so different from other ghosts," she said, more to herself than to me.  
  
        "Now answer one more question before you get the water," she commanded," Where do you disappear to when you aren't fighting other ghosts?"  
  
        Crap, what was he going to do now, she has her lie detector. He guessed that he will have just have to give her half of the truth. "To visit my family and friends," he answered.  
  
        She looked conflicted by his answer, but she didn't ask anything else. She picked up the water bottle and threw it into his cell. She then released him from the chains and looked at him expectantly. He slowly sat up and swung his feet over the side. He reached down for the knife. He gripped the handle, closed his eyes, and without another thought he pulled it out of his leg. The pain had died down to a dull ache, but as soon as the knife left his flesh, it became a sharp, excruciatingly painful throbbing. Ectoplasm freely flowed from his leg. To his relief it started healing almost immediately.  
  
        He jumped down from the table, his leg almost giving away as it came in contact with the floor. Almost, but he managed to stay standing by shifting his body weight onto his uninjured leg. He slowly and painfully limped back to his cell. He tried his hardest to keep standing, to keep walking forward. All he wanted was the water bottle that seemed so fat out of reach.  
  
        As he walked through the door of the cell, his leg finally gave out and he fell to the ground. The floor was cool against his skin as he crawled over to the water and shakily unscrewed the cap. He took one small sip, savoring the coolness of the liquid as it slipped down his parched throat. It took all of his control to only drink a quarter of the water. He knew he would need it later. With a last look back, Maddie left. The door closed with a resounding bang behind her. He reluctantly put the water down and closed his eyes. It wasn't long before he finally succumbed to sleep.  
  
        He woke up to darkness. Maddie must have turned off the lights while he was sleeping. Panic immediately caused him to start hyperventilating. The walls felt like they were closing in on him, and his throat felt swollen. He hugged his knees, trying to forget the black void that threatened to swallow his sanity. He tried to take deep breaths to no avail. His entire body was shaking and his hands felt numb. "Calm down, Danny, it's fine. It's just a little absence of light. Nothing wrong with that." He felt kind of crazy talking to himself, but it was unexpectedly comforting to say the words out loud. It was almost like it made it real. "Come on, Danny, think, what can you do to get out of this?" A thought suddenly occurred to him. Weren't jack and jazz home? If he was lucky enough for it to be night… they may be able to hear him.  
  
        "JAZZ, JAZZ!" he screamed as loud as he could. His voice was weak from all the torture and screaming, but he was desperate to be found. After a minute of screaming her name, the door to the lab opened, flooding the stairs with light. To his disappointment, Maddie walked down the stairs and quickly shut the door.  
  
        "What do you think you are doing," she hissed at him.  
  
        "Screaming for help, what does it look like?" he answered calmly, surprised she had asked such an obvious question.  
  
        "You are going to wake somebody up!" she reprimanded him," And what are you calling Jazz for?"  
  
        "I know, that's the point," he countered, barely keeping a smile off his face," And as for Jazz, well I know she wouldn't approve of you keeping a poor, defenseless ghost down here, would she."  
  
        "You don't know anything about Jazz!" she shouted, but he could see the fear in her eyes as she thought of the possibility of the statement being true.

  
        She headed toward the stairs, but suddenly switched directions and picked up a dirty rag that was normally used to clean the specter speeder. She then picked up a pair up of plastic handcuffs from her desk that she got who knows where and stepped into his cell. She put the handcuffs on him, stuffed the rag into his mouth so that he couldn't scream, and walked up the stairs. Just as she closed the door, he could hear her talking. To Jazz. He was so close, damn it! She had been about to come down. H started screaming again, hoping that he could make some noise to alert her. It was no use; the oily rag muffled his screams till he lost what was left of his voice. And then he was left in the dark to silently cry over his futile attempt at escape, cursing how weak he was, how hopeless this all was. It was a long, pitiful night.  
  
        In the morning, well he assumed it was morning from the sounds of footsteps and voices in the kitchen, the lights were still off. And all he could do was lie there as the rag filled his mouth with an oily tang, choking him with its strong scent as plastic dug into his wrists.  
  
        Maddie come down later in the day when all activity on the floor above him had ceased. She took the rag out of his mouth and untied the cuffs, which had left bleeding cuts, dripping ectoplasm onto his jumpsuit. As if it didn't have enough on it.  
  
        "I will do that again if you attempt to scream," she threatened, "And it will be for much longer next time."  
  
        She went and sat at her desk, probably examining his anatomy or something. She glanced towards the cell occasionally, a calculating look on her face. After a while, she got up, a slight frown on her face, and opened his cell door. She pressed a button and a scale popped up from the floor. It was made from the same gray metal as the floor, with a clear box at the top.  
  
        "Step onto it now," she commanded.  
  
        How the hell had she put a scale there. Why would she put a scale there? Nothing seemed to make sense anymore. Regardless, he pushed himself up, and stepped towards it. His legs seemed steady, and he figured whatever this was, it couldn't hurt that bad. He stepped on the scale, and black numbers immediately popped up in the clear box at the top. The bold numbers stated that he weighed thirty pounds. But that couldn't be right. His ghost form weighed around seventy pounds. To lose forty in what, two or three weeks, he shouldn't be alive. I mean, he was half human, so he can probably still die in ghost form. He didn't realize how bad this had gotten. He had barely eat anything in weeks, and the only reason he was still alive was the IV Maddie had given him when he had fallen unconscious all those days ago. He was only alive because of her. But he was barely alive. So close to death. And that was where she would keep him. Barely alive.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Also, thank you to anyone who commented or gave this story kudos! You all motivate me to keep writing and improving!


	8. The Real Question

________________________________________

"I would choose to be with you, if the choice was mine to make."  
-Unknown  
________________________________________

 

         Danny was lying against the wall in the corner of the cell, letting his thoughts wander. It had been, by his estimate, about four days since he had been weighed. He looked towards the door, where the water bottle stood, barely enough water in it for one more sip. His stomach ached from the lack of food, and his throat was so dry he could barely swallow. He crawled slowly over to the door and reached out for the water. Even after he tilted the bottle at a ninety-degree angle, only a few drops fell into his mouth.  
  
         He had a sinking feeling in his stomach that was worse than the hunger that gnawed away at him. It was dark and electric and painful and it seemed to have a finality to it. He didn’t have enough water left to dry his parched throat, which meant he definitely meant that he didn’t have enough to survive for more than a day or two. He didn’t know how long a halfa could go without water, but he could feel the weakness that had settled over him for the past day. And that damned feeling in the pit of his stomach was like a signal blaring over a loudspeaker. ‘You can’t make it’, it seemed to scream at him. ‘You’re all alone. No one is coming for you.’ He wanted to scream back, he wanted to tell it that there was some shred of hope left. Some shred of hope that hadn’t been carved or starved out of him. But the voice came from within him and there was no one to cry out to but himself.  
  
         Maddie hadn't entered the lab in days. Danny knew she would probably come soon. Maybe, she would even come before he fainted from dehydration. He looked longingly at the stairs beyond the clear wall of the cell, thinking about Maddie walking through the door with water in hand. He tried hard to look past his grimy reflection, but to no avail. A skeleton stared back at him. Its eyes and cheeks were sunken in. Its once ectoplasm green eyes were dull and lifeless, faded to an ugly olive-green color. His face was covered in grime, and his hair hung limp and gray from all the filth covering it. His jumpsuit was stained with a collection a sweat and ectoplasm, and was hanging off his thin, malnourished frame. How long had it been since he was captured? Maybe… twenty-two days? Yeah, that sounded about right. It had been four days since he was weighed, and about three days before that, Vlad told him that he had been missed for fifteen days. Twenty-two days in all. It felt like a lifetime since he had seen anyone besides Maddie and Vlad.  
  
         The quiet of the lab disappeared as rubber boots scuffed the floor and the sound echoed through the lab as Maddie walked down the stairs. She threw a water bottle aimlessly into the cell as she brought her phone up to her ear. The water splashed against the side of the bottle as it hit the floor and he couldn’t look away as the bottle rolled to a stop a few feet away. The movement of the water was the sound of one more day, one more chance to get through this alive. The pit in his stomach hadn’t gone away, but the despondent voice quieted to a whisper. As he was sipping from the water bottle, careful not to waste it, he listened to her conversation.  
  
         **Vlad, he needs to go to school! Just because you are the mayor, doesn’t mean you can just take him away from getting an education! **  
****

         **Why does he need to stay at your mansion, you've had more than enough time? I know this was one of the agreements for helping me capture phantom, but it has been almost a month. It’s unacceptable. Does he even want to be there anymore? His friends and family are here. **  
****

         **And I appreciate you helping me, but he has to come home. Today. Meet me here in an hour. Goodbye. **  
****

         That was the most encouraging thing Danny had heard in a while. Vlad's going to have to make up an excuse, which will be entertaining. The solitude and silence that characterized most of his captivity weighed on him, and he was desperate for anything that stopped the spiraling thoughts in his head.  
  
         It also looked like Vlad’s actions were finally catching up to him. Danny did not want to get his hopes up, but this was a good development. If Jazz, Sam and Tuck find out that Danny had never been with Vlad, that might give them enough reason to check the lab again. Hell, even Maddie will be looking out for him. The irony could have killed him if he didn’t already feel half dead.  
  
         Danny heard him before he saw him. Vlad’s expensive shoes slapped against each step with quick precision on his way down. Vlad glanced over at him, a look of pity on his face that was only there for a second before it vanished.  
  
         "Hello, Madeline, how has your day been going?" Vlad said, stalling for time.  
  
         "Where's Danny, he was supposed to be here," Maddie said, glaring at Vlad.  
  
         "Now, about that," Vlad said sheepishly," I don't know where he is."  
  
         "What!" Maddie looked pissed. "How could you not know where he is? How long has he been missing?"  
  
         "A few days. I have been trying to find him," he lied with ease.  
  
         "Well, you better get out there and look harder. I am calling the police!" she stated, and reached for the phone.  
  
         "Wait… I will take care of it, I will contact the police. You need to look more into Phantom's anatomy, and once that is done, you will have all the time in the world to look for your son." Vlad commanded.  
  
         "No," Maddie spat," I will look for my son today, experiments tomorrow. My son comes before Phantom, and you should know that."  
  
         She walked out of the room, leaving a very surprised Vlad in her wake. Vlad’s gaze fell upon him.  
  
         "Well, it looks like that plan failed." Danny stated, his voice scratchy from disuse.  
  
         "Well, Daniel, it looks like you're not in the best situation to be saying that," he said, his tense shoulders giving away his frustration over his failure to commandeer Maddie.  
  
         He left after that, leaving Danny alone. It was just him and his pitiful reflection, once again. He looked away from the glass in disgust. If he wasn’t in his trademark jumpsuit, he doubted that his friends would recognize him anymore. But then again, he was not the same person he was before, either. He let his thoughts swallow him hole, the spiral growing wider and deeper with each dark thought.  


DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP

  
         "Phantom. Phantom! Wake up."  
  
         As Danny opened his eyes, He found himself chained to the table. Maddie glaring at him, obviously in a bad mood. What happened to putting her son first and leaving Phantom for later?  
  
         "I'm awake," he croaked. His throat felt like sandpaper. How did he get onto the table? He tried to remember if he had passed out, but his memory was so hazy that he couldn’t put his thoughts in order.  
  
         "Let's see what makes you work…," Maddie trailed off. She picked up a pair of heavy-duty scissors.  
  
         She proceeded to cut straight through by jumpsuit from the base of my throat down to my navel.  
  
         "How do you have scars?" she asked, dumbfounded.  
  
         "Ghost fighting," he replied.  
  
         "But you're a ghost. Ghosts are just ectoplasm, they don't even have real skin," she argued.  
  
         "Whatever you say," I mumbled," But the truth is right in front of you."  
  
         "Fine, onto the experiment that really matters," she said, a hint of excitement in her voice.  
  
         Like the last time, he felt a sharp, burning sensation from the top of my abdomen down to the end of the cut in my jumpsuit. She seemed intrigued by the green-hued muscle and tissue underneath my skin. Danny couldn't stop screaming when she made an incision on the skin above his lungs and peeled it back, using a scalpel when the skin resisted. Pain beyond anything he had every experienced made his vision tunnel. It was all he could do to stay conscious as she prodded underneath his skin feeling his rib cage. He felt the cool air of the lab touch the exposed muscle and bone, and he tried to arch his back, move at all, anything to get away from the feeling of his exposed insides. By the time she let the flap of skin and muscle fall back onto into the vague position it had been in before, he couldn’t hear his screams anymore and he could feel a welcome numbness take him over. He wasn’t unconscious, which he would have preferred, but his pain had lessened immensely.  
  
         "Interesting," she mused,"You have actual organs, unlike any other ghost I have ever seen.”  
  
         "Huh, just like a human, imagine that," he hissed, his teeth still clenched in pain.  
  
         "You will never be like a human, Phantom. Ghosts are not even living creatures, they have no heart, they do not care for anyone," she stated, completely convinced of herself.  
  
         "How do you explain me then," he asked, wondering what she thought about her recent discoveries. He wondered what she would think when he realized the truth.  
  
         "Well we will see if you have a heart. Even if you have one, it cannot beat because you are not living," she declared.  
  
         Danny stayed silent, knowing that no matter what he said, she would not believe him. To prove her point, she made an incision above his heart, well, where it would be in his human form. He clasped his teeth together, trying not to scream. He could feel ectoplasm falling from the corner of his mouth. She cut all the way down to the rib cage before he screamed this time.  
  
         "See, you have no heart," she stated, as his chest heaved, trying to get enough oxygen to his lungs. "What is that?" she asked, pointing to where a blue glow radiated from within his chest.  
  
         Shit. She had found his core. She made another incision, this time in the very middle of his chest. He would have screamed again, but his voice gave out before he had a chance. As she peeled back more of his skin, ectoplasm flowed down his body in rivulets, pooling on the table. Spots appeared in the corners of his vision again. As she continued, he yielded to the darkness threatening to overcome him.  
  
         He woke up back in his cell. Maddie was gone. The places where Maddie had torn off the jumpsuit were hastily stitched together. He was surprised she had even bothered. His chest throbbed, but the only visible evidence of the experiment was a series of fresh, pink scars running down and across his chest.  
  
         As he looked around, he spotted his old water bottle lying in the corner, so he crawled over to it, and filled his parched mouth with water, not caring about saving it. He would probably regret it later, but he was past caring at this point. After a minute, the water was gone, and his stomach felt ready to burst. He lay there, staring into empty space. He wanted to forget everything that had happened in the last few hours. Danny had known that Maddie thought he was less than human, but to hear it out loud broke something inside of him. She didn't care about the ghost half of him. Would she ever care? If she found out, would she want to eliminate that half, or would she accept him? There was no way to know now, and he didn’t know how he would ever be able to prove to her that he was good. Deep down he knew the answer. It was up to her. The choice had never been his to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. I have the next chapter written, so expect it within the next week. Thanks for sticking with the story!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody, thanks for taking the time to check out my story! This is the only multi-chapter Danny Phantom fic I have written. I am still getting used to the formatting on ao3, so if they are any mistakes please write a comment and I'll fix it as soon as I can. I have most of this story written, so I am going to try and update every Wednesday. Reviews are welcome, and I would love to hear if people are interested in this story!


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